June 15, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: David Feaster
727-388-1000

Left-handed ace was
top pick in MLB Draft

VANDERBILT'S PRICE
CHOSEN AS
21ST RECIPIENT OF DICK HOWSER TROPHY

OMAHA, Neb. (USBWA)  David Price, the most prolific
student-athlete in Vanderbilt baseball history and one of the top
hurlers in Southeastern Conference annals, has been selected as
the 21st annual recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy.

The
St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce and National Collegiate
Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) selected Price in a vote
of over 300 members of the NCBWA and Dick Howser Trophy committee
prior to Friday's announcement at the Omaha Press Club.

A 6-6, 225-pound junior from Murfreesboro, Tenn., for Coach Tim
Corbin's Commodores, the consensus All-America left-hander led the
SEC in five different pitching categories and was dominant in almost
every start for his '07 squad. He led Vandy to a school-record-season
victories' total at 54-13 overall and is the Commodores' first men's
athletics national player of the year in any sport.

Price was chosen as the first player in the 2007 Major League
Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (VU's first-ever initial
draft selection) and ended the year at 11-1 overall with 194 strikeouts
in 133 1/3 innings pitched (13.1 strikeouts every nine frames).
He did not lose a decision in his 17 starts and struck out 10 or
more batters in 12 of those first 17 appearances. Price also had
a career-high 17 strikeouts in the opening round of the NCAA Nashville
Regional in nine innings against Austin Peay. He also fanned 15
LSU hitters in a key late-season conference victory.

David Feaster of the
St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce presents
the Dick Howser Trophy to Vanderbilt's David Price

The 2007 Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and Collegiate
Baseball's National Co-Player of the Year (with Florida State 2B
Tony Thomas, Jr.), finished with a 2.63 earned run average and 95
hits (a norm of 6.4 hits every nine innings). He also broke the
Vandy career strikeout record with 441 in just three seasons and
313 innings of work.

Price's 194 strikeouts also were second in SEC season history
to LSU's Ben McDonald (1989), and the former All-State basketball
standout at Murfreesboro's Blackman High School helped Vanderbilt
rise to a No. 1 ranking nationally for nine-consecutive weeks 
a school record. The junior helped Vandy take its first-ever regular-season
Southeastern Conference crown in '07, and was a standout on both
the 2005 and '06 VU postseason entries.

As a freshman, he worked out of the bullpen in the early portion
of the season, while striking out 92 hitters in 69-plus innings
and posting a 2.86 ERA. Last year he was 9-5 with 155 strikeouts
and 43 walks in 110-plus frames. Posting a 22-10 record during his
three-year career, he has averaged 12.7 strikeouts and just 2.99
walks every nine frames, while working as VU's ace in each of
the last two years.

He is ranked in almost every major NCAA pitching category with
his 194 total whiffs (most in nation), 11 victories (top 15) and
13.1 game strikeouts' average (second). The Murfreesboro resident
also was Baseball America's 2006 Summer Player of the Year with
a 5-1 record, 0.20 ERA, one earned run in 44 innings tossed, and
a major role in Team USA's gold medal in the World University Games
at Havana, Cuba.

Once again, the Dick Howser Trophy has been awarded to an individual
with great character, as well as great athletic ability, said Howser
Trophy Committee Chair David Feaster of St. Petersburg. David Price
epitomizes all that is great with college baseball, and has exhibited
great leadership on and off the field. The Dick Howser Trophy committee
and all involved send our heartiest congratulations.

Price's name will be added to the permanent trophy, a bronze
bust of Howser permanently displayed at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg,
home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Both the winner and his school
receive a special trophy to keep. The Dick Howser Trophy committee
will make another formal presentation of the trophy to the VU standout
at a 2007 Vanderbilt home game to be determined.

The St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce has had over 100
years of community service since its founding in 1899. The organization
has long been a vital force in the baseball affairs of the city,
both in spring training and during the pursuit of a major league
baseball franchise for the Tampa Bay area, and continues its solid
role in the 21st Century. NCBWA membership includes writers, broadcasters
and publicists. Designed to promote and publicize college baseball,
it is the sport's only college media-related organization, founded
in 1962.